Peace, security and development are inextricably linked. Peaceful, democratic and well-governed societies are believed to promote levels of growth, employment and prosperity. This article first defines the terms peace, security and development and then situates this within a current debate—that of the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals. It looks at the African Union Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development (AU PCRD) framework and how it addresses issues of peace, security and development.

• Authors: Amanda Lucey
• September 2015
• Strategic Analysis

While global governance is all about creating an international order that addresses the interests of the big and small nations and people, non-government and corporate entities, the foreign policy of a state, including its multilateralism, aims at achieving its national interest. Tension between the two therefore is only natural. Often this is depicted as a hiatus between the greater good associated with idealism and self-interest associated with pragmatism.

• Authors: Arpita Anant
• September 2015
• Strategic Analysis

It has been extensively debated whether India should prioritise relations with its immediate or extended neighbourhood. Put into the framework of energy security and competition with China, it will be argued that the recently signed South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) framework agreement can provide the basis and open up new opportunities for inter- and sub-regional energy co-operation in Asia.

• Authors: Anna Juhos
• September 2015
• Strategic Analysis

The insurgency movement in Northeast India, demanding various forms of autonomy including independence, is a constant concern for the maintenance of the country’s unity. It is further complicated due to the region’s strategic location, being almost entirely surrounded by several countries, and hence any development in these countries will certainly have implications for Northeast India.

• Authors: M. Amarjeet Singh
• July 2015
• Strategic Analysis

Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan once stated: ‘Whoever attains maritime supremacy in the Indian Ocean would be a prominent player on the international scene. Whoever controls the Indian Ocean dominates Asia. This Ocean is the key to the seven seas in the 21st century, the destiny of the world will be decided in these waters’.1 It is these prophetic words that are the pivot for the book under review, India’s Ocean: The Story of India’s Bid for Regional Leadership.

• Authors: Amrita Jash
• July 2015
• Strategic Analysis

The book, as the title suggests, has Sri-Yantra and geophilosophy as its central themes. Sri-Yantra is a powerful positive energy symbol that is known for bringing peace, prosperity, harmony and good fortune. This powerful Yantra is a diagram based on nine interlocking triangular formulations. It is also known as Srichakra and Indian mystics and gurus have known about it for a long time.

• Authors: Ruchi Shree
• July 2015
• Strategic Analysis

War, in the age of the ‘Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA)’ has changed its nature and tactics. Use of sophisticated systems has made it difficult to penetrate defences. Cyber war, however, appears as a drill to penetrate the defences of nations, because defence against cyber offence is so far not strong. Clarke was the first cyber security advisor to US president George W. Bush (Jr.) from 2001 to 2003 and Knake was a senior officer in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This book primarily focuses on US cyberspace security based on their experiences.

• Authors: Chandra Kamal Borah
• July 2015
• Strategic Analysis

The ability of history to intrude into the present has often been underestimated. Nowhere is this more evident than in India’s relations with territories to its immediate east. Colonial rule by the British in Northeast India and Myanmar left a lasting impact on the two countries, which is felt to this day. Japanese control of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands also left its own historical imprint.

• Authors: Udai Bhanu Singh
• July 2015
• Strategic Analysis

Based on the work of the Maritime Security Working Group within the Strategic Studies Network (SSN), this report provides both diagnosis and prescriptions regarding security threats in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). The IOR, a large maritime area that extends from coastal Africa through the Middle East and South Asia and on to Australia, is a major conduit for global trade, a littoral zone of developing powers, and the focus of a series of rising security challenges.

• Authors: Untitled
• July 2015
• Strategic Analysis

Nigeria is currently going through a very delicate phase. The kidnapping of more than 275 Chibok schoolgirls by the terrorist organisation Boko Haram shocked not only Nigeria but the international community at large. This act by Boko Haram was widely criticised and led to worldwide condemnation and an international rescue effort. More seriously, the group leader Shekhau threatened to sell the girls into slavery and used Islamic teachings as justification.

• Authors: Aslam Khan
• July 2015
• Strategic Analysis